Sometimes That's All It Takes
by autumnOTH
Summary: What happens when two high school friends meet after ten years? Sometimes that's all it takes to get someone back on track. Bevin & Tim, oneshot.


So, this is a simple one-parter that I wrote for a challenge over at OTHWriters911. The challenge was to write two people from Tree Hill meeting again in an airport after ten years. The characters cannot have seen each other since high school, and must part ways at the end of the fic. So, I thought I'd be different, and try my hand at something totally new that I've never written before. I did a Bevin and Tim- so really, do review and let me know what you think. :) Love, Wendy.

****

**Sometimes That's All It Takes**

"…All flights out from Los Angeles has been delayed due to weather conditions. For further information, do seek help from…"

Tim Smith shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and sighed. Nothing seemed to be going his way, least of all not today. He stood at the full length glass windows and stared outside at the white blizzard. Strange how the snow made him felt cold inside and out, even though the confines of the airport were warm. He ran a hand over his face, cringing as he felt his two-day-old stubble. There had been days where he wouldn't have let himself out of the house without preening into the mirror, making sure that he had looked impeccable. These days, he didn't realise it if a button was missing, if his hair was uncombed or if he hadn't shaved. He flicked a piece of imaginary lint off his shirt and shivered. It still felt cold to him, somehow. He turned around, his back to the snowstorm, and moved back to the waiting area, where hundreds of passengers were waiting. Some were families with little children napping, others were busy businessmen on their phones, there were couples holding hands. They all looked like they knew what was going on, and what they wanted to do. Unlike him.

Tim sighed again, and plopped down in one of the comfortable seats, resisting the urge to prop his feet up. He folded his arms, and closed his eyes, thinking that it may do him some good to catch a few winks of sleep. A few seats away, a phone rang, just as he was about to doze off.

"Bevin Maskey, hello?" she answered. "Yeah, yeah, all flights got delayed so I may not be able to make the meeting." She laughed a little as Tim took a glance at her. He would know that name and the voice that came with it anywhere. "All right, I'll give you a call later then. See ya."

He wondered if he should call out to her, looking like this, but she turned and saw him. "Tim?"

"Hey!"

"Tim Smith! How are you doing?"

Tim shrugged, and wondered if she had noticed his stubble. "Uhh, okay, I guess. How about you?"

"Never been better," Bevin smiled. "You alone here?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Flight got delayed." The words were barely out of his mouth when he realised how stupid they had sounded.

She nodded. "What have you been up to? I didn't see you at the five year reunion."

He shrugged again. "I was kinda busy, I guess. How's everyone else?"

"I kept in touch with Brooke all these years; she's doing great. 'Clothes over Bro's' is doing amazing, and she's thinking of venturing into a makeup line too. Haley and Nathan are living the lives of rock stars, with Haley doing her music, and Nathan with his basketball. Last I heard, they were trying for a baby," she winked, and grinned. Tim laughed along with her, and urged her to go on. He'd always enjoyed talking to Bevin in high school, because she got so animated about the littlest things. "Well," she continued, "Peyton just got a branch of Tric up in Boston, and Jake's came from Savannah to help her out. Jenny's become such a pretty girl. I have no idea where Lucas went, but sources tells me that he's teaching literature."

"Literature, huh?"

"I always knew he was smartest of you lot on the basketball team."

"Oh, shut up," Tim laughed, feeling more at ease now. "He wasn't the most talented on court, though."

"Oh, and you were?" she raised an eyebrow, a smile twitching beneath her lips.

His jaw dropped. "Where did you ever get that sense of sarcasm?"

Bevin punched him on the arm gently. "Come on, now! It was always there."

He shook his head. "Right. What are you doing now?"

She smiled. "I'm a fashion buyer. I scout out clothes and purchase them for shops to sell."

"Found your niche, eh?"

"Niche. Tim, wow, what a word!" she teased him.

"You really do know how to hurt a guy's ego."

"I suppose I'm making up for years of lost time, then," she laughed. "What about you? What have you been doing since high school?"

"Long story."

"Come on, it's not like we don't have all day."

He laughed. "You've gotten so much better at this."

"I know. Blame it on the business mind, I suppose. I never knew I had it. I still remember the boy draft; you remember the boy draft, don't you?" When he nodded, she continued. "I traded Rachel my third pick for her fifth pick because she told me five was bigger than three." She shook her head, laughing. "If I was still as gullible, my boss would screw me, and I do not mean that in a literal manner, because in no way am I screwing my boss."

Tim laughed along with her. "And I remember thinking that I was going to be the first pick all along. How delusional I was."

Bevin leaned in closer to him and whispered conspirationally. "I'll tell you a secret. I was either going to draft Skills or you."

"Aw, and I lost out to Skills?"

"Hey, don't knock him. He had a very nice and firm ass," she giggled.

Tim rolled his eyes. "And you're saying I don't?"

"I shall choose not to answer that question."

He grinned. "So, are you still dating Mr. Nice and Firm Ass?"

She reached over and hit him on the arm. "Stop calling him that! And no, we're not dating anymore. We weren't since high school."

"Found other firmer asses?"

Bevin laughed. "Maybe."

"What happened? I mean, you did 'Notebook' him, didn't you?"

Her hands flew to her mouth. "I can't believe people still remember that!"

"You kidding? Of course we do! Do you know how many girls made me watch that in high school after you did it on Skills? It was strictly that, or no other movie. I must have seen it ten times already. That was a signature Bevin move."

"Oh my God. I can't believe it."

"Believe it. It was seriously painful. What you made the mankind of Tree Hill High go through."

"Enough!" she held up both her hands in surrender. "What about you, huh? That basketball player auction, where Mrs. Scott bought you?" A cheeky grin spread across her face.

Tim felt his cheeks flush in return. "It was a mistake, okay?"

Bevin giggled. "I can't believe you thought she- she-"

"Laugh all you want!" Tim chuckled along with her. "That was seriously embarrassing, let me tell you. And of course, to make things worse, Mr. Scott came home at exactly the right time."

"So I heard," she sniggered. "I also heard about the party you threw for Nathan after he got married."

Tim flushed an even darker shade of pink. "That was a mistake too, okay?"

"That's what they all say," she teased him, looking amused. "I can't believe you thought those cops were strippers!"

"Hey, they come in costumes sometimes!" he held up both his hands in defence. "And well, they were pretty hot. It was an easy mistake to make!"

She snorted. "I suppose when they cuffed you, you still thought it was part of their show."

"See, this is why I hated Tree Hill High," he grumbled good-naturedly. "Gossip spreads like fire in a dry forest."

"It's where we spent the best years of our lives, though. As cheesy as it sounds, there is only one Tree Hill."

"True," he nodded. "There's been plenty a time when I wish I could just go back to high school, because things were so easy back then."

"I know what you mean. As much as I like where I'm going now, and how things are looking up, high school was great. The people you met, the friendships you made, how the more important things you learn are often learnt outside the classroom. Or rather," she laughed lightly, "in my case, always out of the classroom, since I don't think I actually learnt anything in there."

He laughed. "That makes the two of us. I miss those days, you know? Whitey shouting at us after matches, cutting classes with the rest of the guys, failing so many of my classes and meeting the principal every single time, walking around like I was the Big Man on Campus, pretending not to watch cheerleading practice when we were actually checking you girls out," Tim grinned. "And not forgetting, following Nathan around like a sick puppy dog."

Bevin laughed. "Oh that, you were."

"I think I seriously felt like I had been dumped after he married Haley," he snorted, shaking his head. "But he was one of the few people who gave me the time of day, so," he shrugged, letting his sentence finish for himself.

She nodded. "Good times, and bad, I suppose. I always loved the cheerleading competitions when we all got to go away for a weekend. Those were really loads of fun," she smiled, reminiscing.

"Yeah, and Brooke the Cheerleading Nazi would never let you girls come out with the rest of us guys for some fun."

"But we snuck out anyway," she laughed. "And all hell would break loose."

He sighed, feeling nostalgic and old at the same time. "Those were the days."

"Things sure have changed since then, haven't they?" she searched his eyes.

He shrugged. "I guess."

"So, you're doing okay, right?"

"Never been better," he lied through his teeth.

She smiled, not quite believing him. "Great. You know, there's going to be a ten year reunion in September. Think you can make it?"

He let out a long breath. "Has it been ten years already?" he shook his head disbelievingly. "Gosh."

"Yeah. Crazy, isn't it? It'll be- "

"…Passengers on Flight D888 to Los Angeles may board now at Gate…"

"Oh, that's my flight," she smiled wanly.

"All right then, you do what you gotta do," Tim nodded.

She dug around in her bag and fished out a name card. "Give me a call sometime, okay? Don't be a stranger," she reached over and gave him a quick hug.

He hugged her back tightly. "Will do. You take care."

She stood up, and put her jacket on. "Hey, umm, don't take this the wrong way; Tim, but the both of us were never the smartest people around, were we?"

He smiled good-naturedly and fiddled with his fingers. "Tell me about it. I knew everyone called me Dim."

"I'm sure they didn't call me anything better either," she shook her head cheerfully. "But really," her tone grew serious, "thing changed for me, and I made the best of what I was given. You can too."

Tim looked to the ground. "How'd you know?"

"They don't call me Bevin 'Mastermind' Maskey for nothing," she smiled. "And also, the fact that the Tim Smith I knew wouldn't have come out of the house unshaved and sloppily dressed." Her teasing tone switched to a more earnest, sincere one. "Seriously, things will get better. You just have to hang in there, okay?

He nodded, and she pulled him in for another hug, turning to leave.

He stood up. "Hey, Bevin," he called after her.

She turned around, hoisting her laptop bag on one shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Thank you. I needed that."

She smiled warmly. "I know."

Tim turned back to stand at the windows, looking out. Somehow, he didn't feel so cold anymore.

Like it?


End file.
